Ragnarok: The Awakening
by Nadyell
Summary: Seven heroes are off to save the world of Rune-Midgard from the evil that is afoot! However, before they can do that, they have to find a way to get along with each other, since they are… well… insane.
1. Chapter One

**Summary:** Seven heroes are off to save the world of Rune-Midgard from the evil that is afoot! However, before they can do that, they have to find a way to get along with each other, since they are… well… insane.

**Pairings:** Find out for yourself!!! We're evil.

**Disclaimer:** We don't own the MMORPG that is Ragnarok Online and anything actually related to it. That's all owned by Gravity. What we do own, however, are the characters that appear here and the plot itself. Don't steal since we're not!

**Ragnarok: The Awakening**

Chapter One

It was just another day in the capital of Rune-Midgard, Prontera. In the square, people with varieties of jobs bustled about, with a pretty much happy demeanor. There was hardly any trouble so for once, the guards and the Knights of Prontera had a smile plastered on their face. The occasional Thief got into trouble, seeing as they were really the only ones with a bad record, was caught but besides that, nothing really happened. One Thief, however, wasn't too cheery, a grim look on her face. Despite that, she managed to hide it because she was a novice Thief, one with a lot of potential but a novice Thief nonetheless.

An idle hand brushed through the girl's cropped blue hair. It reached to just above her shoulders, though her bangs fell slightly above her brow, kept out from the eyes. A long sleeved shirt that had a white cloth covering her chest and that fully bared her midriff, paired off with dark tan Capri pants and boots told people that she was of the Thief job class – there was no mistaking that outfit. Wandering in the square of Prontera, the capital city of Rune-Midgard, the girl seemed a bit jittery as she pondered to herself about life. She smiled slightly, barely visible to any onlookers, for after this day she was on the road of truly making her family proud. Born into a family of thieves, everyone on her family tree ended up turning into an Assassin or a Rogue once they were experienced enough to do so, and fully dominating in their chosen profession.

As she continued walking, she spied a purple haired Acolyte, calmly leaning over a merchant's store as she surveyed the goods. Sneaking silently over to the acolyte, the young thief's hands twitched as she made a motion to pick the pocket of this particular girl. She was sure the acolyte wouldn't mind… besides, she needed a better weapon, and soon; this blade would hardly help her when fighting against strong monsters. Much to the thief's disappointment, though, the other girl was able to feel her hand trying to grab some money. So much for that idea.

"Hey!" said the acolyte as she spun about to look at the slightly crouched thief, looking bewildered that her theft had failed. Jumping up, the thief bolted away, cursing her lack of skill, hoping the Knights of Prontera hadn't noticed her breaking the law; they were a guild she _really_ didn't want to get messed up with. Vaguely she realized the acolyte was following her, bustling past the hoards of people in Prontera in an attempt to catch up, shouting and trying to get her to slow down, among other things. Not caring about what the acolyte was shouting, nor the fact both were beginning to gather a collection of odd glances from onlookers, the thief just continued running… until, with all the luck in the world, she found herself caught in a dead end street. Cursing herself once again for even trying to steal money, she let her guard down slightly, letting the acolyte catch up to her. Not like she had a choice anyway.

"HEY! What the bloody hell were you trying to do?!" growled the acolyte as she glared at the thief. Already the 'holy warrior' had withdrawn her weapon, waving the sharp end of her staff close to her opponent. Still, the thief knew when she was beaten.

"Geez, no need to be so uptight," she muttered, crossing her arms, "And why should I, one who actually has speed and a good bit of strength, be afraid of someone who is supposed to be a Bible-hugging weakling acolyte?" The acolyte glared at the thief who just shrugged and smirked.

"I'm not as weak as you think, why… you… you… arrogant rogue, you!" cried out the outraged acolyte, feeling very much insulted about her weakness in the battle field. True, she did suffer some issues when it came to combat, especially seeing as she spent more time reading than actually exercising her muscles, but she wasn't a pushover!

"I have a name you know – it's Nadyell," said the thief acidly, Nadyell, as she still eyed the acolyte, "and come on, you look like you have money to spare. I'm just trying to get a much better weapon than this… Cutter. Surely you could spare a coupla' zeny for a good cause – the Buy Me a Stiletto Fund." Nadyell stuck her tongue out as she pocketed the knife somewhere.

"Just because you're poor does not give you the right to steal from others," scorned the acolyte, "though because you gave me your name, I'll give you mine. I'm Miyuki." She paused, as if in thought. "And now, I've figured out an appropriate punishment for your deed! You can be my personal bodyguard until I'm strong enough to fend for myself." Nadyell had a look of pure shock and outrage on her face. "If not, I'll tell the guards about you trying to steal from me – and I'm sure it won't be a pretty sight," said Miyuki, flashing a sickeningly sweet smile at the thief, her tone silky albeit venomous. "I've heard the dungeons in Prontera Castle are quite spacious. You may find them to your liking."

"Fine, you conniving acolyte, you," grunted Nadyell as she shoved her hands into her pockets. Brushing past Miyuki, her 'boss', she began making her way to a gate. "Come on, boss, or I'll leave you and let you fend for yourself," said Nadyell with just a hint of irritation as she turned around and faced the purple haired acolyte, still walking even if she was backwards, "Though even if I might be in trouble with you telling the guards about what I tried to do, at least my family can't get pissed at me. They're all assassins or rogues anyway." With that, she stopped in her tracks and waited for Miyuki. "Come on, hurry up: we thieves aren't known for having a lot of patience."

"Fine, fine," mumbled Miyuki as she walked towards Nadyell irritably, "Let's go and fight some Porings until they become too easy." Nadyell shrugged as she just followed Miyuki, her hands behind her head, as she whistled a tune. Creasing her eyebrows, Miyuki wondered about how strong this thief looked to be. Though she looked rude and a tad too proud about her family, she might be quite strong, just as she said she was. Thankfully, the street they had run into was near a gate. After bidding goodbye to the guard on duty, the pair made their way outside Prontera and proceeded to hunting for a Poring, a Fabre or a Lunatic that they, more of Nadyell, could attack.

"Found one!" cheered Nadyell as she proceeded to attack a Poring with her Cutter. Even though the pink blob looked to be sweet and innocent, it sure wasn't! When she was a novice, truly a novice at that, she received most of her beatings from the darn pink blobs. Miyuki helped out a little by whacking the pink thing with her staff, but it really didn't do much damage. At least she helped, though. With a shout, Nadyell slashed down hard upon the small blobby pink monster, splitting it in half with her blade. The two halves of the Poring seemed to fall apart into many small chunks after that, before fading away. "One down, and a few hundred more Porings to go," commented Nadyell in irritation as she creased her eyebrows, "The things just have to be so annoying."

Miyuki leaned back on her staff, quirking an eyebrow at the thief whining in front of her. "I don't think they're annoying," she atoned, "they're cute and at least we're leveling." Glancing down to the grass below their feet, that which made up the roaming meadows and forests of Prontera Field, the acolyte noticed that, with the Poring gone, it had left behind two things: a small, silvery piece of goo, and an old, empty bottle. Picking up the second item, beryl-hued eyes conferred to her 'guard' that she should take the rest of the loot, before turning around and scouring the area for more enemies to prey upon. The young girl sighed; if she knew this was what being an acolyte was all about, Miyuki was sure she would have chosen some other job to practice.

Grunting in reply, Nadyell bent down to pick up the jellopy left behind by the Poring, but froze mid-stride, blinking in confusion. "Where'd it go?" Glancing from side to side, it was then she noticed a smallish brown bug, feelers waving, clutching _her_ jellopy! Now, that was hardly fair – she was supposed to be the thief! "Hey, that bug stole my loot!" Pulling her Cutter into her hand, Nadyell advanced towards the Thiefbug, ready to slice it down in thirty seconds flat. Miyuki turned around at that point, her face pale. "I.. really wouldn't do that, if I were you."

Ignoring her 'boss', the thief leapt at the innocent-looking beetle which immediately scuttled out of the way, before returning blows with a screech. Luckily, Nadyell was more than quick enough to step out of the way. She smirked. "C'mon, boss, this is nothing!" Lifting up her dagger, the onyx-eyed girl was about to strike, when she stopped, staring curiously at the Thiefbug. It had turned around, screeching in its own language, almost like a call to its friends. Suddenly, Nadyell realized why Miyuki did not think attacking the beetle was such a good idea. All around her, coming out of the bushes, were about four or five more of the same species – each quickly scuttling towards her. "Oh no.."

"What did I tell you?!" Miyuki yelled, thoroughly irritated, although a little worried. "Hurry up and let's go before they mob us!"

Nadyell grunted in irritation, forever swearing that she would start mauling Thiefbugs the day she got strong enough to do so. The damn bugs just had to be the type that liked to mob. Grunting, she ran towards the acolyte, grabbed her hand, and proceeded to hiding behind a tree. However, the Thiefbugs were smart enough to know where the two were going. Her eyes, widening in irritation, she drew forth her dagger and made a motion that they had to attack, no other way to get out of this mess. As the Thiefbugs multiplied in number, though not too many but it was too much for just one person of her experience to get rid of, Nadyell screeched in annoyance as a Thiefbug managed to attack her.

"Damn things!" grumbled Nadyell as she ignored the stinging pain of the wound on her arm as she continued slashing at the brown insect. As she was starting to weaken, her vision blurred slightly as footsteps were heard around them. As a couple more insects continued to try and maul the young Thief, another person, a male this time, appeared and helped out with trying to get rid of the Thiefbugs. Though normally people would just leave others to their own battles and only join in if they were actually in the same party, at least this guy had enough decency to help out a person who really looked like she needed it. With the help of the stranger, Nadyell was able to get rid of the small mob. Pocketing her dagger, she clutched her bleeding arm.

"I told you so!" said Miyuki snidely as she turned towards her companion. "Heal!" A green aura surrounded the thief, closing up the wound and revitalizing her, at least a bit. Glancing down at the fallen thief, Miyuki saw just how annoyed Nadyell looked about getting hurt. Sure, her pride was hurt but the acolyte's wasn't! "What would you do without me?" She muttered with a smirk. Nadyell scowled, muttering obscenities beneath her breath.

"Sure, whatever. Thanks for the heal," said Nadyell, sarcastically at first though sincerely when she thanked the acolyte, as she looked towards the direction of the one who had helped them. She was able to get a good glance at his face, his hair and his clothes. He had onyx colored eyes, like she, and he had messy white hair. It wasn't white because he was old, it was more of a silvery color, a messed up silvery white that just looked good on him. He was also wearing clothes similar to Nadyell's except, of course his was more for men. "Thanks for the help back there… uhh," said Nadyell awkwardly as she stood up and looked at the thief.

"It's Locke; and no problem, miss…?" replied the other thief as he looked at Nadyell then Miyuki and back at Nadyell. The thief blushed slightly as she told him her name, as well as the acolyte's. "Ah, you're Nadyell then. I've heard about your family back at home," said Locke as he pocketed his hands, "Doing okay? I hear that they always demand that you and your family should become a Thief then either an Assassin or a Rogue."

"Yeah," she said she looked at the ground, "But its okay, I guess. I wanted to be a Thief anyway, though I still have yet to decide whether I'll become an Assassin or become a Rogue like my older brother." All that time, Miyuki kept glancing back at Locke and her bodyguard. By the looks of things, Nadyell seemed to be fascinated with Locke and Locke was just oblivious. Good for Nadyell. And exceptionally good for Miyuki, who was resisting the urge to don the most evil grin one could think of. Though she was still extremely annoyed with Nadyell, there was no way she'd let this pass.

"Well, if you're okay now, then, seeya. Good luck," Locke cast a suave peace sign over his shoulder as he wandered off, looking for much stronger enemies than the like that wandered about this side of Prontera. All the while, Nadyell's eyes followed him off, faint hints of red tingeing her cheeks. As soon as the boy was out of sight (and hearing distance), Miyuki immediately leapt upon the thief, grinning like a madman. "Looks like little Nady has found something she likes," said the acolyte with a laugh. Nadyell glared back, "Hey! I like lots of things! AND HE IS NOT A THING!" By this time, Miyuki was leaning up against a tree, lost in peals of laughter, ignoring the daggers being glared in her direction. The thief was actually beginning to consider taking that metaphor and putting it into reality; oh, how good would it feel to just throw her knife at that acolyte's head right now..

With a string of curses being muttered beneath her breath, Nadyell promptly went over towards the battlefield, where the remains of the Thiefbugs were still sitting. Apparently, Locke had not wished to take his share of the loot, so Nadyell procured everything – from insect feelers to jellopy – and shoved them in her pocket. Then, she turned to Miyuki. "Are you ready to go yet?"

"Yeah, yeah," Miyuki paused, "Hey, let's go to the Hidden Temple. It's supposed to be near here.. should reach it by the end of the day if we keep walking." Bending down to search through her backpack, the acolyte pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, which, when folded out, looked like a rough sketch of a map of quite a lot of Rune-Midgard. "Dad made this when he was out adventuring. He said that I should help complete it, while I'm out in the world," said Miyuki, before blinking, wondering why she said that. She didn't actually really know the girl she was with, not to mention she had attempted to pilfer zeny from her. Oh, well. Tracing her finger on the map, the acolyte figured out a rough estimate of where they were, and showed the map to Nadyell as she went.

"If we go roughly north for a while, then turn west up here through the pass," she gestured as she went, "we should be able to get to the Hidden Temple." Nadyell shrugged, not particularly caring; the thief was still fuming about how her companion had teased her, not to mention being dragged about behind her, as if she were an obedient pet. Surely she would be able to leave soon; possibly even this night, while they slept. How in the world did she manage to pick a fight with what seemed to be the world's only acolyte with attitude? Weren't they all supposed to be goody-goody, and God-loving, and whatnot? Glancing around before shoving her hands in her pockets, Nadyell followed the path Miyuki was taking, already beginning to form her escape plan in her mind.

---

"Where the hell are we?!" screeched Nadyell as she pointed towards the myriad of monsters that were seemingly harmless. It was a good thing that Nadyell had grabbed Miyuki before she made an attempt to walk towards the brown and pink monkeys. They were dangerous. Well, the brown one was at least, because it was aggressive, and seemed to control the smaller pink monkeys about it. "I know there aren't supposed to be any of these damn monkey things going to Hidden Temple! That's about as much as I know about the way there!"

Miyuki looked miffed at the Thief who seemed to be acting like the leader this time around. First, Nadyell had managed to get them past the aggressive Mandragoras back there by passing through the trees, much to her distaste. Even if they did have to do that for most of the time and they did get scathed, because of the branches and the occasional attack, it wasn't as bad as being pummeled by a Mandragora. Now, she was actually saving her from being beaten by seemingly innocent monkeys!

"Well, now where to?" asked Nadyell as she hugged her knees, looking evenly at Miyuki, "We can't past that way because there are those blasted monkeys. Going back to where the Mandragoras are will just make us even more tired when we get to Hidden Temple." Miyuki creased her brow as she glared at Nadyell who looked slightly calm, playing with her dagger as she waited for the decision. As she waited, she thought about how annoying Miyuki could be. No, not her in general, though she was too, as in the way she brought her strengths up. She was just too weak to protect herself from monsters that weren't undead!

Miyuki stood up and began walking towards the direction they came from. Nadyell rose and ran after the acolyte, stopping her from moving any further. The acolyte brushed Nadyell's hand away from her shoulder as she continued to walk on towards the Mandragoras.

"You can't just go there! It's suicide for people who aren't that experienced, and we both fall in that category!" shouted Nadyell as she stood her ground, crossing her arms and threatening not to help the acolyte out if she dare returned there. "And even if I don't like you that much, I still have the heart to tell you it's suicide to go there, and to try and stop you!"

Miyuki glared. "I can't go that way, I can't go this way, damn it, if you're that good, then, find us a way to get out of this place!" She scowled. The acolyte was slowly coming to the conclusion that they were in the wrong place anyway. She was sure that there weren't any of these monkey-things around the Hidden Temple the last time she was there. Shaking her head in disgust at the predicament they had gotten themselves into, Miyuki clenched her fist around her staff, just about ready to beat this thief senseless with it. However, before either Nadyell or Miyuki's fantasies about ditching the other could come to the surface, a blood-curdling yell echoed from behind them, and the two girls spun around, only to meet the sight of a young, silver-haired boy fighting a losing battle with five monkeys.

"Locke!" Nadyell caught her breath, watching the five monsters continually take swipe after swipe at the thief. He could only dodge so much, and even though he was holding his own fairly well.. his chances of survival were slim. Locke jumped left, over the head of another, and then ducked, only to be slammed into by the largest monkey in the group; the brown-colored one. The two girls heard him grunt in pain, being knocked to the ground with a thump. Nadyell stepped forward at that, unsheathing her Cutter; however, before she could go any further, Miyuki put a restraining hand upon her shoulder. The thief growled, "What now?! We have to help him!"

"Nadyell! Like you said," Miyuki switched to a mimic of the thief's voice, "it's suicide for people who aren't that experienced, and we both fall into that category!" Her voice reverted to normal again, "Don't you want to live to see another day? We'll be killed if we go in there!" Nadyell shook off the acolyte's hand with a rough shrug, glowering. "You're an acolyte. You're supposed to help people! And like hell I'm going to let the guy that helped us just die out here. Run away if you want, but I refuse to be a coward." And with that, Nadyell sprinted over to the pile of monkeys with a yell, loud and sudden enough that it scared the monsters slightly; at least, enough to scatter away from Locke. Sidling up to him, Nadyell helped him to his feet, even with help, Locke having trouble staying upright. "Are you okay?"

Locke was fairly bruised and battered, but there hadn't been any blood loss yet, except where his teeth had cut his lip, leaving a small trail of crimson down his chin. He glanced at his savior, and smiled slightly. "Yeah, fine," he said, even though Nadyell could tell he wasn't. However, in this amount of time, the monkeys had returned, and all were staring menacingly at both thieves. Locke swore. "I almost forgot about the Yoyos and Choco! Look, just get away from here, now; I'll hold them off."

Nadyell stared in disbelief. He was sacrificing himself to save her? "I can't do that! We can beat them together if we try, right?" However, Locke shook his head. "That Choco is too strong for us two. Especially with the state I'm in. Maybe if we had help from your acolyte friend, but.." He shrugged, and Nadyell grumbled. "That coward's probably run off by now, the stupid bi--" Before she could finish her sentence, however, the Yoyos lunged, and both thieves had to concentrate on dodging the attacks. However, Locke was much more experienced in this art than Nadyell, and soon enough, the femme found herself hit in the back of the leg by an expertly-aimed tail, and falling onto the ground. Immediately attempting to pull herself up, Nadyell found herself face-to-face with an evilly-grinning Choco. Closing her eyes, readying herself for the upcoming blow, it was not a swipe of claws that hit the thief; instead, it was a familiar female voice.

"Holy Light!" Came the call, and a blast of pure energy whacked the Yoyo's leader in the head, deflecting its attack. Miyuki smirked, immediately using heal upon the two injured fighters as soon as she could.

"I thought you ran away," grunted Nadyell as she wiped the blood that had seeped out from her lower lip. Miyuki shrugged as she stood slightly in the background; as much as she refused to admit her weaknesses, she functioned a lot better as a support character. Locke managed to get rid of one Yoyo, leaving three Yoyos and still the haughty Choco. "Miyuki, could you please increase our agility?" called out Nadyell as she kicked a Yoyo aside, calling the acolyte by her name for the first time. Blinking in surprise, Miyuki snapped out of her reverie then casting a spell causing both thieves to be quicker.

"Woah," murmured Locke as he continued to attack the Yoyo that was attacking him. It was the first time a support spell had actually been cast on him and it was a pretty good feeling to be this quicker. After all, he was a thief and it was needed for him to be fast. "Take that you blasted Yoyo!" muttered Locke as his onyx eyes watched his hand stab the Yoyo in his vital area. "You doing alright?" asked Locke as he turned to face Nadyell.

"What do you think?" said Nadyell irritably as she kicked the Yoyo. Doing so, the Choco advanced towards her and the young thief's eyes widened in annoyance as she half-ran towards the Yoyo she had just kicked away and tried to attack that. However, the haughty Choco had uncurled its tail and made Nadyell to trip, causing her to land squarely on her chin, making it have a couple of slight scratches. The young girl screeched in annoyance as she covered her head in order to lessen the impact of the Choco's attack. Again, she lay there, waiting for it to attack her but it never came. Turning around, she saw a flash of light, though not enough to blind her, causing the Choco to jump back and glare at Nadyell.

"I don't think I'll let my bodyguard die in the call of duty!" called out Miyuki as she cast heal on the scratched thief. Nadyell stood up shakily as she shouted her thanks. Closing her eyes tightly, she tried to regain her composure. While her eyes were closed, she heard the continuous slashes coming forth from Locke's blade making impact on a Yoyo. Defenseless, some would call it, but it was sure one of the most annoying monsters in all of Rune Midgard! Grabbing her blade that lay on the ground, she charged at a Yoyo, determined to not be beaten by the pink monkeys and the evil brown one.

---

The three, two thieves and an acolyte were sitting down around a fire, waiting for their fish to grill. Although the wounds of the thieves were lessened due to the acolyte's restorative magic, they were still not fully healed. Besides that, it was night by the time they were able to finally kill off the monkeys and get some peace and quiet. They stayed near the path which would lead to the Mandragoras but it was still a good distance away from the aggressive plants.

"Hey, think it's alright if I join you guys? It seems I still need some help, and you do too," said Locke as he looked at Miyuki then at Nadyell. The thief jabbed her finger towards Miyuki, telling the silvery haired boy it was all the acolyte's decision since she was being dragged around by the purple haired acolyte with an attitude. Miyuki scrutinized the thief slowly. It seemed he had a decent amount of power in him. He had a better weapon than Nadyell, a Dirk, but the femme thief couldn't be blamed for her weaker weapon.

"Okay," said Miyuki as she flashed him a sweet grin, the same one Nadyell saw earlier that day. A groan escaped the blue haired thief as she fell on the ground, staring up at the stars. "As long as you'll be my bodyguard as well!" she added as she looked at Locke. The other thief looked back at Nadyell, who was sitting up straight now, and saw her sigh.

"As long as Nadyell doesn't mind…" said Locke as he crossed his arms, "I mean, if she does, I can always find another bunch of people I could go with for the time being, until I'm strong enough to become a Rogue or an Assassin." Nadyell blushed slightly as she shook her head, saying she didn't mind at all. "Okay then! I guess I'm your bodyguard as well," said Locke with a slight smile, causing Nadyell to stand up and make a quick excuse about needing to go get some water. Miyuki merely laughed to herself, untying the ribbon from her hair as she started to relax.

---

"Where are we gonna go tomorrow?" Locke broke the silence of their camp suddenly, piercing the inky darkness with his baritone.

"Mmm… Payon dungeon seems good. It's a long way away, but it'll get us some good experience." Miyuki replied, curled up beside the fire in a bedroll.

"Nadyell? What d'you think?" However, the only reply they got from that girl was a snore; she was fast asleep. Miyuki and Locke shared a grin.

"I'll sit the first watch. You sleep for now, okay?"

"Right-o." Miyuki planned to do just that, snuggling into the bedroll with a content sigh.

Locke poked the fire as the acolyte drifted off to sleep, shivering as the various sounds of the night surrounded him. Even though humans needed to sleep, apparently most monsters did not. Alone in the dark, the thief's mind began to turn over itself, going as far as imagining a shady figure watching them at one point – but he shook it off, convinced that his imagination was just on overdrive. Sighing, he leant back against a log, staring into the fire. Though the day had been stressful, he felt somewhat 'right', as if this was where he was supposed to be, as crazy as that sounded.

Regardless… the future promised to be interesting… very interesting indeed.

**To Be Continued**

**Nadyell:** So… yeah! And hey, don't think that I randomly stole my Thief's name. I gave it to her.

There's actually a deeper plot to this, besides the huge amounts of insanity! I won't tell you guys the main plot but there are hints every now and then so just try to read it. I would but it'll spoil the fun :3

ANYWAY, since Tanuki is also co-writing this fanfic, she should have an A/N too! XD

**Tanuki:** It's not insane. It's normal. If you've played Ragnarok Online, you'll know that these are the sorts of things that regularly go on… I swear.

... Or do I just hang around with odd people?

By the way, I will henceforth be this fanfic's official bookie. Feel free to bid on anything - from what pairings will turn up, to what job class the evil guy will be. You'll never guess… x3

**Nadyell:** You guys can be the 'Reader of the Chapter' or the 'RotC' if you're able to guess it correctly!

Tanuki: That's copywrite to me. Don't steal it, Nady. . 

**Nadyell:** Well… weh! ANYWAY, here's what you guys can guess for this chapter!

**Guessing Time:** What job will the next member of Miyuki's, Locke's, and Nady's party be?


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary:** Seven heroes are off to save the world of Rune-Midgard from the evil that is afoot! However, before they can do that, they have to find a way to get along with each other, since they are… well… insane.

**Pairings:** Find out for yourself!!! We're evil.

**Disclaimer:** We don't own the MMORPG that is Ragnarok Online and anything actually related to it. That's all owned by Gravity. What we do own, however, are the characters that appear here and the plot itself. Don't steal since we're not!

****

**Ragnarok: The Awakening**

Chapter Two

Trees were _everywhere_. Ancient evergreens towered above the ground, blocking most sunlight from hitting the forest floor, winding paths created by the hunters the only places with decent visibility in the gigantic woodlands outside of Payon. A small party of three young teens, two thieves and an acolyte, had, for one reason or another, ended up wandering around in the magnificent forests, and were now completely and utterly lost. As per usual.

"And whose fault is _that_?!" grumbled Nadyell, a scowl evident on her features as she glared pointedly at the back of her current party leader: the fraudulent acolyte, Miyuki. Apparently the purple haired girl was ignoring the thief, though, for she continued to hum to herself, studying the ancient map with confidence.

"We'll probably have to set up camp soon," remarked Locke, shielding his eyes as he glanced upwards. "The sun's beginning to set, and there's no way we can navigate this forest at night."

Miyuki smirked, azure eyes sparkling as she glanced up from the map. "I'm sure I know where we are now! We won't have to rest for the night, since I found us a shortcut to Payon."

Nadyell eyed Miyuki with suspicion. "The last 'shortcut' you led us down got us closer to Morroc, not Payon! Are you sure it's the right way this time?"

"Of course I'm sure!" assured the Acolyte, hurriedly shoving the map back into her pack. "Don't you trust me?" Ignoring the incredulous look she received from the other female, Miyuki smiled at Locke as she straightened up. "Shall we go?"

"Yes, girls…" Locke replied, with a sigh. How on Earth did he end up partying with the likes of this pair? Still, even though they had their quirks, they were good people deep down. Way down.

---

The flutter of wings rustled overhead as some sort of feathered creature swooped above the trio's heads. Crickets chirped in the bushes, and yet again, the thieves and acolyte had paused in their journey to check the map as the last rays of sunlight filtered through the trees. While Locke was his usual calm self, Nadyell was almost at the point of exploding. The annoyance she felt was so obvious in the way she moved, forced and robotic, and the pained smile on her face. Occasionally you could notice the corner of her eye twitch. Forcefully bustling in front of Miyuki, she glared, again, at her.

"Where in the nine Hells are we?!" she demanded, pissed off that they had wasted so much time. Miyuki was silent, though her expression was pained as she poured over the map. "Well?!" badgered Nadyell, covering the map with her hand so Miyuki had to look up. The purple-haired girl did so, a wry smile on her face.

"To tell the truth.."

"Yes?"

"We are.."

"Yes?!"

"…completely and utterly lost."

Many miles away in Payon, many people stopped their tasks for a few moments as a scream echoed across the woods, enraged and exasperated at the same time. A flock of birds scattered from the trees where the screech had exploded from, squawking in protest as their sleep had been interrupted. Most Payon residents merely looked at each other with arched eyebrows; whatever happened had obviously been a push over the edge for some poor soul…

---

Locke sighed as he stared at the orangey glow of the fire, his arms crossed. He chose to sit in between the two females in their party, making sure that they wouldn't harm each other. Miyuki was miffed because Nadyell managed to get her face scratched, though Locke said it was deliberately missed, for someone who was trying to become an Assassin anyway. On the other hand, Nadyell was glaring daggers at the acolyte for getting them lost… again. Locke sighed again. It would be a long trip to the Payon Dungeon, a very long trip.

"I'm going to go find some food. Make sure that acolyte doesn't follow me or anything," hissed Nadyell as she stood up, grabbing a basket in the process, stomping towards a nearby creek.

"Like I would ever want to follow you!" screeched Miyuki as she pointed an accusing finger at Nadyell. "You're too barbaric!" Locke sighed again; he had been doing that more often than usual ever since he joined the party.

"That's one less fish for you Miyuki!" shouted Nadyell as she turned around, her hands acting like a megaphone. Turning around, she continued stomping towards the said creek.

Nadyell stood waiting patiently in the creek, her onyx eyes watching a rather lively fish. Her boots were near the river back, as she waded barefoot into the creek. She managed to spear two fish with her trusty old Cutter which had been reduced to a mere cooking tool. Slightly hunching forward, Nadyell readied her hand in order to strike at the fish. Seconds later, trails of red were being carried off by the creek to some unknown direction as Nadyell threw the third fish into the basket. She had two more fish to catch and she fully intended to carry out her threat to the acolyte.

"Bah. Why did she have to go and get us lost again?!" growled Nadyell as she began looking for the fourth fish. "The first thing we're going to do once we get into Payon is get a _reliable_ map!" Gripping the short hilt of her Cutter tighter, she kept an eagle eye out for another fish. "Gotcha!" said Nadyell in a satisfied tone as she stabbed another fish, the creature dying instantly as the metal forced its way into its slimy body.

---

Miyuki scrunched her nose in distaste as she began digging for Sweet Potatoes under the forest ground. Not that she minded being sent out to gather Sweet Potatoes by Locke, a much better job than actually having to _cook_ food, an idea which she detested, but she didn't want to do manual labor! Sighing, she wiped her forehead with her sleeve and began digging for Sweet Potatoes again. She managed to find a good number of them but she liked Sweet Potatoes so she decided to find some more.

"At least I'm not going to cook," she mumbled, trying to cheer herself up. Holding the handle of the small shovel tighter, she began to unearth some more ground in order to hopefully reveal another Sweet Potato. Her azure eyes sparkled slightly and her face brightened significantly as she eyed what she had unearthed. In front of her was a patch orangey skin of a Sweet Potato! Speeding up her pace, she dug some more ground in order to pick up the root crop. She'd clean it later. Right now, her mind was focused on the singular goal of getting more of the Sweet Potatoes.

The time really seemed to fly by. Soon enough, the acolyte had unearthed more than enough sweet potatoes to feed them for the night, as well as having a couple left over to take with them to Payon. Standing up and stretching her back slightly, Miyuki dusted her hands off after gathering up the bundle of potatoes she'd collected. With a smile, she turned around and headed back to camp.

---

"Righty, girls, dinner's ready!" Locke's cheerful voice announced, breaking the uncomfortable silence around their campfire. He coughed slightly to himself, though, after having no reply. It seemed both girls were so immensely irritated with each other that they refused to talk at all! Quietly he set to dealing out the dishes, though gave Miyuki an extra helping of potatoes to make up for the fish Nadyell had purposely withheld. After his cooking duties had officially finished, Locke plopped back down on his log, not liking the tension in the air at all. He sighed for the _n_th time that night, before slowly starting on his dinner.

Nadyell played with her food, eyes looking anywhere but her party members. Her pride stopped her from apologising, but she still felt somewhat guilty. She was an impulsive kind of person, but now that they were mildly calm and quiet, she could see that what she did was probably not the best thing to do. Yeah… it was easy to guilt-trip this thief. She frowned slightly; some things, though, Miyuki _did_ deserve! She stabbed into one of the pieces of fish at that thought, trying to mentally cheer up, even though the remorse was still obviously there.

It didn't take long for the three to finish dinner, in relative silence. After that, they pulled out their bedrolls and settled off to sleep. Perhaps tomorrow would fix things up between the two females – and let Locke have a little sanity for once?

---

"Since you think I suck so much at navigation, why don't _you_ try it, then, Nadyell?" said Miyuki, miffed, tying her purple locks into their usual style: straight and flat, but with a ponytail at the back, tied up with a red ribbon. Now that the sun had risen, the two were at least speaking to each other again, if not curtly and harshly. But it was an improvement… right?

Nadyell rolled her eyes, grabbing the old map roughly as she cast her gaze over it. "I'm sure even a Poring could navigate better than you. Look, see? We must be about here," she jabbed at the map with her index finger, "because of the creek and that hill we climbed back yesterday afternoon. So… if we go north-east for a while, we should hit Payon."

Locke shrugged his backpack onto his shoulders, glancing at the map over Nadyell's shoulders. "We could also be here, or here," he gestured twice, "or maybe even here," he pointed again, "so don't jump to conclusions so quickly. But I suppose if we go north-east, eventually we'll come to somewhere we can navigate from." Nadyell looked at Locke in exasperation. Even if she did like the silvery haired Thief, he was against her too?!

---

"We're hopelessly lost!" cried Nadyell as she somehow wound up crying on Locke's shoulders. Of course, they were more of tears of exasperation over anything else. Locke, feeling very awkward, managed to fight down the reddish hue that threatened to appear on his cheeks as he patted her back, trying to stop her from crying.

"Well, I guess you're not a genius navigator yourself," mumbled Miyuki as she turned around, her azure eyes glancing at the trees in front of her. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked upwards. She had seen a few wisps of smoke in the sky up north of here but she said nothing of it. It could be a camp fire or it could be from Payon. Locke noticed it too, despite the fact that his dampening jacket and shirt beneath was pretty uncomfortable.

"There there Nadyell. I see smoke in the sky, north of here. If we follow that, we could meet up with a person who could lead us to Payon. Or we could eventually be in front of Payon's gates. Or we could get ourselves even more lost. The probability for the first two actually happening is higher than the last," said Locke as his eyes looked downwards at the Thief.

"Really?! Let's follow it then! Better than getting ourselves even more lost without hopes of finding our way back to civilization!" said Nadyell, cheering up instantly at the prospect of losing themselves from their lost state and finding a way to get into town. Locke sighed slightly as he watched Nadyell run a bit forward, in hopes of getting to town. This girl was an extremist. She was easily pleased, pissed off, guilt-tripped. You name it; it would be easy for her to be like that.

---

Nadyell screamed as she began kicking and stabbing a nearby tree. Poor thing. When they arrived at the source of the smoke, all they saw was a camp fire and no one around. "Why do the navigation gods curse me?! What did I do to them?!"

"Maybe because you're a Thief?" supplied Miyuki, an annoyed tone to her voice. Locke coughed slightly, trying to make the acolyte remember he was one too and he wasn't as accursed as Nadyell when it came to the map. "Oh, right. Sorry about that." Suddenly, they heard foot steps behind them. Turning her head around, Miyuki tried to see who it was.

"Oh. You guys lost or something?" asked the person, a female Archer, as she looked at the wailing Nadyell who nodded slowly. "Ah. No worries, people often seem to get lost in this part of southern Payon. I can get you there if you want. I know this place like the back of my hand since I spent quite some time exploring the place for Willows in order to pass my test."

"Really?!" said Nadyell as she ran towards the Archer, her eyes bright and shiny at her offer.

"Sure, why not? I don't see any harm in it. And anyway, I've gathered enough items so I can get a new bow and some arrows. That Crossbow back home looks mighty useful." The Archer smiled as she tucked a stray strand of her dark red hair behind her ear, her bright hazel eyes twinkling slightly. "What are your names?" As she asked that, she pulled at her ponytail, making sure it was tight enough.

"I'm Nadyell, a Thief of course, trying to become an Assassin."

"I'm Locke, a Thief like her. I'm not sure what I want to become but I'll probably become a Rogue."

"I'm Miyuki, an Acolyte. I'm going to become a Priest. Those two are my bodyguards, by the way." A scowl formed on Nadyell's face.

"Ah. I'm Ruiko, an Archer. I'm trying to become a Hunter."

By this time, Nadyell was basically squirming in delight. "Whatever the case… you can get us out of this damn forest! YAY!" And with that, she leapt at the archer, dissolving their new companion in a giant hug. In the background, Miyuki and Locke simultaneously sighed, shaking their heads sadly. That girl was an odd one…

---

In comparison to how many hours they had spent trudging around the depths of Payon Forest, the trek to the main city took absolutely no time whatsoever. Actually, the campsite where Ruiko had been staying was less than a half-hour walk to the gates of town, much to the chagrin of the three unlucky adventurers, not to mention it seemed that they had taken but one wrong turn right close to their proper destination which had set them off course. Ah, irony. You have to love it. But once they were out of the forest, to say that Nadyell was ecstatic would be an understatement.

"We're _finally_ here!" She cheered, doing a small victory dance outside the massive arches that marked the entrance to Payon. Ruiko folded her arms, observing the thief with amusement beside Locke, who could only stare with an arched eyebrow. Miyuki, however, was far ahead of them all, already starting to sneak towards the city centre. Can't have a city visit without a quick perusal of the merchants, can we?

Careful eyes scrutinized the tables of goods she could see about her. Plenty of top-quality goods were available, but none of it really seemed to appeal to the acolyte. After all… she had decent gear for now, and found no need to splurge on upgrades just yet.

"I wonder if Nadyell and Locke need some new equipment?" She mused to herself, idly checking the quality of some stones one merchant was vending. Apparently, with the allurement of some fancy new goods, she had completely forgotten to stick with her party members.

After Nadyell had completed her victory dance, Ruiko nodded her head slightly to the two thieves. "Like I mentioned earlier, I want to buy a new Crossbow before I go training. Why don't we go together? Payon dungeon is better when you have some friends to watch your back." She smiled, eyes sparkling. "Just sit around here for a while, enjoy the scenery and some time alone till I – and your acolyte – get back!"

Nadyell watched slightly helplessly as she watched their new Archer friend blend into the crowd, in search of some townsperson who could sell her a brand new Crossbow, possibly with Card Slots, and some arrows for her quiver. Sighing, she turned around to face the companion she was left with. Locke was okay, being alone with Nadyell but the femme was blushing furiously as she looked down at her boots.

"So, where do you want to go, Nadyell?" asked Locke as he looked at her, his face softening slightly. For some reason or another, he felt closer to Nadyell than he did with Miyuki. Maybe it was because like he, she was a Thief. And maybe, also because she had tales to tell about the life and work of a Rogue, seeing as her older brother was one.

"Howaboutgettingsomeapplesandsomewater?" squeaked Nadyell, saying it too fast for anyone to comprehend. Locke looked at her curiously. All he managed to hear was the word 'how'. Besides that, he was absolutely clueless as to what she said. Gulping her nervousness down, she repeated what she had said, much slower this time. "How about getting some apples and some water?" She had no reason to be nervous around Locke, right? After all, he was just a friend. Yeah, he was a friend who was really cute and unwittingly stole her heart.

"Okay then, my treat. I know how you hate to spend." Locke gave her one of his warm smiles as he turned around, grabbing her hand in the process, walking towards one of the nearby stalls. Nadyell's heart stopped beating for a split second, her cheeks burning red, at the sudden contact. Locke only dropped his hold on her wrist when he began choosing a couple of apples and a couple of bottles of cold water. Nadyell had her back facing him as she watched the folk of Payon go about their daily business. Most of them were Archers, the occasional Hunter with his or her falcon perched on the shoulder walking buy. "Here you go," said Locke, snapping her out of her reverie.

"Oh! Thank you," murmured Nadyell softly as she took the apple and the water from her fellow Thief's hands. Locke merely nodded as he began walking back towards the spot Ruiko and Miyuki had left them in, Nadyell following at his heels. Sitting down, they began to eat their snack.

"So tell me more about Rogues," asked Locke, making up an excuse for having a conversation. Nadyell looked at him, chewing at the apple bits thoughtfully before replying. Swallowing the fruit, she downed a bit of the water before speaking.

"Well, my brother keeps saying they're much better at human combat but I don't want to do that. I prefer the speedy style of the Assassin anyway over the stealthy style of the Rogue." Locke nodded as he listened to her speak. "My brother gets pretty rich though. He manages to haggle a lot with the sales people, even with Merchants who are supposed to be a lot better. He also manages to get a lot of loot and sell most of them off, which is why he never really runs out of money." Locke nodded again, various thoughts swimming in his head. If Nadyell were to become an Assassin, it would be better for him to become a Rogue. An Assassin was also a pretty good choice but for some reason or another, the wild style of fighting of a Rogue appealed to him more.

---

"Okay, I'm back!" Ruiko seemed to appear out of nowhere, popping up behind the pair of thieves as they quietly ate the apples Locke had bought for them. Nadyell didn't particularly trust the teasing tone in the archer's voice, but could do nothing more than narrow her eyes at her. Locke didn't seem to have noticed anything, though, because he stood up immediately, more than ready to go. Ruiko pirouetted on one foot, grinning as she showed off the new bow slung on her back.

"Nice!" exclaimed the only male of the party, and Nadyell conceded, admiring the craftsmanship. The crossbow had obviously been created by an experienced smith, with special carvings made in the soft wood, as well as looking classy in general. Ruiko winked, spinning back around to face her new companions. However, she paused, glancing about.

"Where's Miyuki?" She queried more than sure the girl would have returned by now.

"Good question," Nadyell responded with a sigh, "she's been gone since we got here. Probably off spending all of that zeny she hoards… stupid little--"

"Who's stupid now, hmm?" A vexed voice came from behind Nadyell, and she jumped slightly, turning to face a somewhat incensed acolyte, glaring down at her. "I dare you to continue that sentence!"

"You're a stupid little bi--"

"Now, now, girls," Locke stood between them, cutting the insult off midway, "don't start fighting. _Again_."

"Why don't we just head up to the Archer Village? That's where the entrance to the dungeon is…" Smartly, Ruiko changed the topic, something that would at least get the girls' minds off strangling each other. And, without waiting for a response, both of the calmer members of the party grabbed one of the crazier pair and started to drag them up the slope to their future destination. As they went, Locke sighed in relief; finally, he wasn't the only sane one in their party…

---

"Here comes another lot!" Locke shouted, back-to-back with Nadyell as they fought off the mobs of monsters attacking them: zombies, spores, snakes and familiars. Ruiko stood slightly off to the side, firing a rapid flurry of arrows, and Miyuki stood close by, aiding as much she could with her restorative magic. Their fight had been going on for a long while, for even as they killed a couple of enemies, a few more would respawn; it was a vicious, never-ending cycle.

"Will they never end?!" Nadyell grumbled, hacking at the annoying bat creature in front of her. Slicing once across its left wing, she stabbed quickly forward again through its torso, effectively killing it. But even after it fell, another flew in to take its place, swooping and screeching and scratching. Locke was trying to take on a pair of spores, stabbing the mushroom monsters in as many places as he could, though they refused to die. Ruiko had concentrated on the zombies, with help from Miyuki, aiming for the weak parts in their physique: the eyes, the neck, and the mouth. Surely the waves of enemies would let down _sometime_ soon!

Miyuki paused after heal-bombing another zombie, wiping the sweat from her brow as she did. "We need to get away from this place, or they're going to overrun us!" Even though the lot of them could more than handle the creatures in this level of Payon dungeon, with no rest breaks, it was certainly a pain. She personally didn't know how much longer she could stand of these legions of monsters… her SP was running low what with a continuous stream of heals for her party members.

Locke and Nadyell nodded, grunting as they felled a Snake together. Ruiko lowered her bow for a moment, piercing the darkness with her sharp eyes. "Let's run, now, before they respawn again!" None needed anything more to incite them. Lowering their weapons, the party of four bolted, not caring where they were going – just that it was away from the swarm. Anywhere else would be better, right?

---

"WHERE IN BLUE BLAZES ARE WE?!" screamed Nadyell as she pointed an accusing finger at the path they had taken, "DAMN YOU PATH YOU! WHY MUST YOU LEAD US TO SOME GODFORSAKEN PLACE?!" Locke and Ruiko stared at her, wondering if her brain managed to sneak off and laugh at its former home. Miyuki shivered slightly, mentally telling herself to never get the female Thief this vexed. It would do no one good.

"Err, Nadyell? Could you calm down? If we can think _calmly_ enough, maybe, we can get ourselves out of this mess," said Ruiko, trying to calm the hysterical thief down. Getting lost in the span of two days was not her idea of a joyride. Hell, ever since she met Miyuki, they've been getting lost every time they left the city, the only place Miyuki couldn't get them lost! Nadyell whimpered as she slumped down to the ground, pulling her knees closer.

Locke rubbed his temples as he closed his eyes, trying to remember where to go. He had been here a couple of times before. Then again, when he was, he was with an experienced Archer then, nearing his way to becoming a Bard. If they went north for ten minutes then went east, they could possibly get out of this cave. Or was it west? All he remembered was that going north for ten minutes was the right direction.

"I _think_ I remember the way to get out of here. I was here before, while training with an experienced Archer who's now a Bard, I believe. We got stuck in the same place and I remember going north for ten minutes. Then, I don't know if we had to go east or west," supplied Locke as he eyed the three female in the party warily. "It's a start but I'm not quite sure about the next direction we'll need to take."

"It's better than nothing. Come on!" said Ruiko optimistically. She was a pretty good navigator, as long as she had a decent map with her. At the moment, she didn't have one. Their walk was pretty uneventful. The occasional spore attacked them, or a zombie, but nothing either Locke, Nadyell, Ruiko, or all three of them, couldn't handle. Soon enough, they reached the end of the path and luckily, there was only one direction to take.

"I'm getting tired, isn't there a faster way to get out of here?" whined Nadyell as she crossed her arms, trudging along the path she had earlier accused of getting them lost. She had a pretty good reason to be tired, besides the long path they were taking. Since they entered the dungeon, she didn't really have much of a chance to get to rest because of all the monsters that decided that they were the best choice to attack, even if there were others as well.

"Is little Nady getting tired?" came the sharp, cutting voice of the acolyte as she peered over Locke's shoulder, tiptoeing in the process. The silvery haired male was taller, after all. Nadyell shot Miyuki a scathing look. Miyuki winced slightly, noticing the slightly bloody patches on the thief's cheeks, torso, and shins. Suddenly, a little light bulb went off in her head. "Oh yeah! I just remembered! I bought some Butterfly Wings earlier and we can use them to get out of this cave!"

"Really?!" said Nadyell, scurrying over towards the acolyte, a shining look in her eyes.

"Yeah," mumbled Miyuki sheepishly as she began to dig in her bag for the Wings.

---

"No! We are not going out in the world with that pitiful excuse for a _map_ as our guide! We might be mauled to death!"

"But it's the _only_ map we have!!!"

Sigh.

"Can I have two rooms please? Both with two separate beds?" Never, would Nadyell and Miyuki share the room. Miyuki-Locke and Ruiko-Nadyell or Miyuki-Ruiko and Locke-Nadyell room assignments were okay but _not_ Miyuki-Nadyell and Locke-Ruiko room assignments. It would be mass destruction.

**To Be Continued**

**Nadyell:** Poor poor Nady. She keeps getting lost… Well, with Miyuki anyway. She was even driven to the point of insanity that she accuses the path for getting them lost! XD

**Tanuki:** Nobody ever trusts Miyuki and her map. .-. Admittedly, she has the same amount of skill in navigation as me - next to naught. Ah well.

Zoom. I have nothing to say… ¬¬

**Nadyell:** Me too. ANYWAY. Here's this chapter's Guessing Time!

**Guessing Time:** What dungeon are they going to next?


End file.
